Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I started of trying to write a post for the picture above yesterday, but i got carried away writing about Dr.Sakti's Acoustic Show ( you can read about it Here)
And though i was still in the mood to complete this, i figured 2 post in a day after 15 days of absence i a little too much too handle ;-)
So well, here; it starts, One has to post for ten consecutive days, on the above topics given in the visual.

Here goes my 10 secrets

1. When i like a song i put it on loop (some have even lasted for a month) till i get sick and tired of it. After that i stay away from the song till i re-loop it again ;-)

2. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi is one movie i've seen in bits and parts, i've almost seen the whole movie, i've read tens of the reviews, i know most of the dialogues by heart, and im in awe with the lady, Bawara Mann, is one of my favorite songs, and yet, that's a movie i'm yet to watch!

3. I hate Kiwi fruits. I dont even touch them. I would go as far as saying i detest them and i wouldnt touch a dish with kiwi fruits even with a Yardstick

4. I'm Stubborn, Opinionated and i think i can change the world, IF i want to.

5. I value friendship and i hate those who conveniently pick up and drop them as when they want and not.

6. I hate falling sick because every time I fall sick I think its going to last forever. I used to fall sick every quarterly, touch-wood its reduced to twice a year now. And another reason why i hate falling ill - i start hallucinating about Chicken Varuval + Steaming hot rice + Rasam, I have absolutely no idea why!

7. I dont mind Boozing, but i never drink beyond the level where i start feeling funny. I HATE those who force even another drop onto me and i hate that queasy, spinning feeling that alcohol leaves.So well, i may not be a perfect boozing partner but i can sit and talk stories for hours while watching YOU booze.

8. I love Mangosteen. My grandfather taught me how to break them open. He also taught me how to count the number of flesh inside without breaking open th fruit ;-)

Upturn the Mangoosteen and count the 'eyes' (kannu as what my grampa told me) and well, i still do that every time I have Mangosteens :-) (Yes yes, i'm such a kid, I know)

9. I like being isolated and quiet. I really do! And I absolutely cherish my quiet moments and would mentally murder anyone who tries to mess with it ;-)

10. I cannot sing to save my life. And so i love those who can sing.

There, you have my 10 secrets ;-)

Post no 2, ( Nine Loves) tomorrow ~

If anyone wants to join me on this journey of ten day challenge, jump in

To be quite honest i went in expecting very crappy hippyhoppy music. But boy, was i wrong or what. They were brilliant from the word go.

Picture this, a very handsome, smart, impeccably dressed Doctor, easing everyone up with a little joke and then professing his Love towards Bob Marley and the Jah. Oh, he doesn't stop there, he then proceeds to announce his next track, No Woman, No Cry.

So, well, whats different, you may ask? Well, it was a Tamil version of No woman No Cry. I did some Google'ing of my own, to check if anyone has attempted anything as such, and Voila, his name cropped up!

So, how did it sound actually? You guys would have to wait for him to release the album / singles. Because honestly, no amount of description would do justice. I couldn't stop raving as he was singing, and i still cant stop raving to every Muthu, Samy and Karupiah i meet ( Tamil of tom dick harry, so as to keep up with the Tamil ;-) ) He had this Magic in his voice and a very earthy, and honest passion in it ( now dont get funny and ask how dishonest passion sounds like! )

He went on Belting a couple of other numbers, All of which i thought were absolutely brilliant. It did make me wonder, why the Malaysian Tamil Music scene doesn't churn out such numbers at regular basis, and then i realized Dr. Sakthivel's debut is still pending. ;-) ( Yeah, tall order of praise for someone who hasn't released his Music, but well, i wanted to be one of the first few praising him in writing, Yay!! )

And my neighbor guy ( Navin)is a 3 time AIM award recipient ( or is it 4 ? ) who can strum the guitar so effortlessly well and win awards and compose and produce music and yet be so very down to earth. I was torn between watching the Dr. sing and watching the neighbor strum.

And a then there was a third one, The cutie on the Bongo, who could play the guitar too, and oh, he could sing as well!! Talk about excess of talent. The trio sure captured everyone present with their energy and talent.

And as if so much good music isnt enough for one day, i did stumble upon a Kindergarden friend who's a rapper (surprise!) married (surprise again!!) released an album (surprise surprise) and who's changed his name to Sri Raskol now ;-)

It was nice being able to see th Neighbor perform, hear the Dr belt out his numbers, stumble upon Kindergarden friend, and it was a wonderful mix of good music, good drinks ;-) and well, some good ol' dappanguthe after the concert.

It was a Saturday night well spent and i'm looking forward to the album release already !!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

As you can see, im having a yummmylicious week. Cooking and experimenting and gorging on delicious food :)
I love cooking and creating stuff. Nothing gives me a bigger high than creating and nothing gives me a bigger void when im not.

Ive wondered how, when a cousin of mine expressed how painting sets her soul free and she feels happy when she paints. ( I cant paint / draw for nuts - its one of the talents along with singing, that i do not have ;-) )
Yesterday after i had baked the brownies (it turned out being a cake, but i'll get back to that later) , i understood exactly what she meant, and for a split second i thought i knew what my calling is.

Errr, okay, where were we. Aite, so i Baked, yesterday, for the first time :D

I've never baked anything before. I cook very often but baking, was too complicated for me. And i have this habit, where i dont do something if i am not a 100% sure i'll kick-ass at it. I dont believe in a 100 mistakes before the bulb burns. I need Light, at the first attempt. My mom doesn't quite agree with that attitude of mine, but, well, that's how i'm built. (it also explains why i sucked at maths - i probably didn't get the answer right the first time around, and so, conveniently ignored the subject ;-) )

Okay, Back again to brownies. After i had finished shouting out to the world and their pet dogs, i had a few souls wanting to the recipe. Oh well, i'm guessing they thought if Shanky can do a good job of it, i'm sure it must have been easy ;-). Oh well, easy it is. Easier than i thought it would be. So well, here's the recipe, and how i made the brownies exactly. With all the mistakes too. ;-)

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
2. Grease your baking tray (with butter obviously :-p ) Preferably a 5 x 7 " square tray
3. Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. And set aside. (heavy non stick pan , or u'll end up frying the chocolate)
4. In a mixer, mix eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for about 7- 8 minutes. (its really cool to use the stand mixer - because you get to multitask - read Sing and Dance)
5. Add the Choc-Butter mixture, flour and salt and mix for another minute, or until its all mixed nicely.
6. Stir in the nuts and give the batter one final mix. Pour into the greased pan
7. Bake 'em brownies for 35-40 minutes. (Be vigilant enough not to over-bake /burn / char it.)
8. You can cool and frost it if you'd like to.

Your Yummy brownies are now ready to be savored :-D

Tips that I found after baking
1. DO not add baking soda if you are using cake flour. The brownies end up being fluffy.
2. Batter shouldn't be too deep .
3. You can be generous with chocolate ;-)

And yes, most importantly, make with Love :-)

So, there goes the recipe for the Chocolate Brownies. The making of deserves a separate post by itself! I had so much fun baking 'em brownies. Hope you have fun too :-)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Been wonderfully jobless the past 2 months, and absolutely loving it ;-)

One of the many up-side of taking a break from working is that i get to cook!

i Love cooking, thats the only thing that reassures me that im creative too. Ive tried artwork, i have a set picture in mind which i want to paint, and i do my BEST to put on paper exactly whats on my mind. But th outcome is even more abstract than abstract itself. And to top it up, im the least patient person He's created.

But, since ive had a few Loyal fans of my cooking (Family and Him - simply because they dont have much choice :-p) I believe i cook quite Okay-Okay.

More often than not, i start cooking without knowing what i'll end up doing. I mean I know what th raw materials are and all, but if you asked me to give the dish a name, i'll just have to make it up. (Oh well, thats similar to my drawing then.. hmmm, point to ponder)

Wasn't feeling too well today (read : lazy-ish) and was craving for tomato soup (yeah, my favorite - i crave for it very often) and decided to flaunt my creativity while hoping it doesn't screw itself up ;-)

I started off by checking the fridge for tomatoes and yeay, there they were, chilling out. So for those interested, the recipe, below :-)

1. Get a pan, add in a little oil (depending on how health conscious you are ;-) ) and heat it over low flame,
2. Dice the onion, and heat it in the pan, without letting it burn.
3. When it gets a translucent appearance, add thin striped of the garlic, ginger, chili's, peppercorn along with the cardamom. Stir for a few seconds and add 2 diced tomatoes.
- you can remove the Chili seeds if you dont like it too spicy
4. Add salt (i added 1 teaspoon) and stir for a while over the low flame.
- You can add a little water let it simmer. Till the tomato gets real soft and the skin starts to peel off.
5. Blend the mixture or you can puree it in the pan, depending on the desired texture.
- remember to remove the cardamom prior to blending
6. Add a little butter in the pan, warm it and add the mixture to the pan. Add 1 cup water and 1 t/b yogurt and a littttle sugar. Let it simmer.
-Sugar can be omitted if yogurt is sweetened.
7. Remember the 3rd tomato left behind, blend it (raw) and once the mixture in the pan in suitably thick add it to the mixture. For the slightly raw and sour taste.
- You can add a little tamarind juice if you like.
8. Simmer till desired consistency. And its DONE :)

Now, Serving suggestions ;-)

Have it by the window on a rainy day , watching raindrops dance while blasting Led Zeppelin ( Kashmir , When the Levee Breaks and the List goes On and On) .. Bliss.. And yes, thats exactly how I enjoyed my Bowl!

Do try it out and let me know how you liked it :-) (and on how you had your Soup )

Friday, June 3, 2011

We're renovating the house and its dusty, messy and everything in between.

But the up-side of all this is that i manage to find stuff that
1. i never knew i had
2. i had lost and given up looking
3. i had lost and never bothered looking
4. i had lost and never knew i did

The something that i found falls under the 4th category :D

I found a sheet of paper with my Kirukals ; instantly i was griped with fear. I have this habit of writing down everything i feel or just scribbling down stuff blankly.
And more often than not I tend to kirukify his name :p

To my relief it wasnt :D

And it was a random poem, of which i cant remember why or when i had written it.

As Children we feared,
the Unknown,
the Animals,
the Rain,
the Nights,
We feared everything,
Except each other